74 How to turn fear into your best friend

No. 74 – 5 May 2024

Welcome to the 74th edition of the True Progress Newsletter, a weekly newsletter on mastering fear and anxiety for optimal performance.

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Insights to Reflect On

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Fear of people's opinions is a fear of being rejected, humiliated, shamed, ridiculed, judged. It causes you to fear failure and makes you risk-averse.

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One of the most powerful ways to overcome the fear of caring what other people think of you is to systematically expose yourself to the things triggering it.

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"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
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— Eleanor Roosevelt​

Emotion to Meet

Neuroscience and brain-imaging research shows that properly naming an emotion is critical to managing and taming it.

Here's 1 to explore:

Invigorated

Definition | Past tense from the verb invigorate: to give life and energy to.

Example | After my presentation, I felt invigorated and filled with a new sense of excitement.

Origin | Mid 17th century: from medieval Latin invigorat- ‘made strong’, from the verb invigorare, from in-‘towards’ + Latin vigorare ‘make strong’ (from vigor ‘vigor’).

Challenge to Grow

What's one fear that's been holding you back in your role? Fear of public speaking? Difficult conversations? Confrontations? What would it look like if you conquered that fear?

Take a small, intentional step toward exposure. It could be scheduling the event or intentionally creating conflict in a lower-stakes environment.

⌾ Reply to this email and let us know how it went.

Till next week,
— Carlos & Stef